The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Sports Reporter
| DISORDER is now the order of the day in the ZIFA Eastern Region Division One as league administrators — who are now widely believed to be in bed with Yadah Stars FC — dither on the fate of the aborted match pitting Prime Rangers FC and the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries-bankrolled outfit. |
While the Eastern Region chairman, Davison Muchena, spent the greater part of this week maintaining that they were yet to announce their decision on the fate of the match, the league administrator, Tedious Machawira, confirmed to the media that they had awarded maximum points to Yadah Stars FC.
This was also the same time Eastern Region board member (competitions), Patience Dube, said they were still to sit down as a board to make a decision on the issue. Such is the confusion reigning supreme within the corridors of Zifa Eastern Region administration.
The latest fallout has left clubs threatening to boycott the remaining league matches over what they termed as ‘preferential treatment’ that Yadah Stars are getting from the regional football administrative body. Since the start of the season, complaints over incessant cases of biased match officiating as well as dubious boardroom decisions meant to benefit Yadah Stars seem to have been falling on deaf ears.
Interestingly, with only two rounds of league matches remaining before the curtain comes down on the eventful 2016 Eastern Region Division One League season, the Zifa Eastern Region is yet to announce their decision on the fate of the aborted match pitting Yadah Stars FC and Prime Rangers two weeks after the encounter was abandoned with four minutes of play remaining while Prime Rangers were leading 1-0.
This comes barely a month after Yadah Stars became beneficiaries of a boardroom decision to award them maximum points after their match against Surrey Abattoirs was abandoned. Allegations of biased match officiating resulted in the premature end of the encounter.
To date, the Zifa Eastern Region administration is dithering on the on the fate of the aborted encounter pitting Yadah Stars and Prime Rangers.
Zifa Eastern Region chairman, Davison Muchena, who initially pledged to make public their decision by Sunday, is not coming out clean on the issue.
“I don’t think I am in a position to announce the decision now. We came up with a decision after consulting widely, but we have forwarded it to our lawyers at national level because we believe there are some legal implications to it. They will then look at it and return it for us to make an announcement,” said the Chiredzi-based Muchena, who was then unreachable on his mobile up to the time of going to print.
As if that was not enough, the Zifa Eastern Region administration have come down hard on in-form Mutoko Pirates on the issue of league affiliation fees, barring them from playing their league matches just a week before Mutoko faces Yadah in one of the remaining two rounds of league matches.
Mutoko Pirates director, Chido Mudzinganyama, complained bitterly about the way issues involving Yadah Stars were being handled in the league.
“We all know that Yadah Stars are a Zifa child. We are contemplating quitting the league and maybe start afresh next season. Zifa told us not to play against Gutu FC last weekend because we have outstanding affiliation fees, but how many clubs in this league have not paid their affiliations fees?
“Are we not compelled to think that this is because they know we will face Yadah next weekend?
“Things are not being handled fairly in our opinion. We were assaulted when we went to play Yadah Stars at their home ground and we are really not happy with their conduct,” said Mudzinganyama.
Correctional services outfit, Tenax also added their voice in the growing chorus of discontentment in the region.
“We have been saying this all along. They (Yadah Stars) are not even from the Eastern Region. The league should allow teams strictly from the Eastern Region. At least if it was a team from Marondera we could understand their inclusion in our league.
“In our one-all draw, we were frustrated as we were made to wait outside the stadium for 26 minutes. The playing field was not level in terms of officiating. We think it is not necessary for us to keep partaking in a league where winners are decided long before we play the game on the field of play,” said Tenax vice-chairman, Danford Matsvai.
Buffaloes’ executive committee member, Ticha Zikai, said his team had seriously thought about withdrawing from the league and let Yadah Stars be crowned champions as this appears to please Zifa.
“I think this is not fair. We have had a serious meeting where we decided that we just have to withdraw from this league and start again next season. We think the promotion of Yadah Stars will be in the best interest of Zifa from what we are seeing, hence we think it is a waste of time to keep competing in a league where winners are decided in the boardroom,” said Zikai.
Prime Rangers chairman, Samuel Horonga, whose team is yet to learn of the fate of their aborted match against Yadah, said this experience would help them form an opinion about the way football was being run in the region.
“We are hearing through rumours that Yadah have already been awarded points and when we phoned the regional administration body officials, they refused to confirm that. We are lucky to have gone through this experience as it will help us know the people we are dealing with better. We will surely join the rest of the clubs that have been complaining about preferential treatment of Yadah Stars.
“With the knowledge that we have about football, its rules and regulations, we are anxiously waiting to hear their decision after forwarding our reports to them. Surely we are also worried why this is taking long given the fact that we only have two rounds of league matches remaining,” he said.
